Monday, January 9, 2017

Report: Gen James Mattis and Trump Team Clashing Over Picks for Top Pentagon Jobs

The retired Marine general reportedly disagrees with the president-elect's transition team over influential Defense Department positions.

Donald Trump's choice for defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, is already clashing with the president-elect and his transition team over choices for senior positions in the Pentagon, according to The Washington Post.

Citing unnamed officials familiar with staffing decisions leading up to the inauguration, the Post reports Mattis has been rejecting "large numbers of candidates" Trump advisers have put forth for top civilian jobs in the defense department. Mattis was "furious," one source told the newspaper, that Trump chose Vincent Viola, an Army veteran turned businessman and Trump ally, to serve as secretary of the Army without his knowledge.

"It made him suspicious of the transition team, and things devolved from there," the source said of the Viola pick.